Chapter 239

Vaisampayana said, “Those soldiers then, O king, all went back toDuryodhana and repeated to him every word that the Gandharvas had said.And, O Bharata, finding that his soldiers had been opposed by theGandharvas, Dhritarashtra’s son, endued with energy, was filled withrage. And the king addressed his soldiers, saying, ‘Punish these wretcheswho desire to oppose my will, even if they have come hither to sport,accompanied by all the celestials with him of a hundred sacrifices. Andhearing these words of Duryodhana, the sons and officers of Dhritarashtraall endued with great strength, as also warriors by thousands, began toarm themselves for battle. And filling the ten sides with loud leonineroars and rushing at those Gandharvas that had been guarding the gates,they entered the forest. And as the Kuru soldiers entered the forest,other Gandharvas came up and forbade them to advance. And though gentlyforbidden by the Gandharvas to advance, the Kuru soldiers, withoutregarding them in the least, began to enter that mighty forest. And whenthose rangers of the sky found that the warriors of Dhritarashtra alongwith their king could not be stopped by words they all went to their kingChitrasena and represented everything unto him. And when Chitrasena, theking of the Gandharvas, came to know all this he became filled with rage,alluding to the Kuru, and commanded his followers saying, ‘Punish thesewretches of wicked behaviour.’ And, O Bharata, when the Gandharvas wereso commanded by Chitrasena, they rushed weapons in hand, towards theDhritarashtra ranks. And beholding the Gandharvas impetuously rushingtowards them with upraised weapons, the Kuru warriors precipitously fledin all directions at the very sight of Duryodhana. And beholding the Kurusoldiers all flying from the field with their backs to the foe, theheroic Radheya alone fled not. And seeing the mighty host of theGandharvas rushing towards him, Radheya checked them by a perfect showerof arrows. And the Suta’s son, owing to his extreme lightness of hand,struck hundreds of Gandharvas with Kshurapras and arrows and Bhallas andvarious weapons made of bones and steel. And that mighty warrior, causingthe heads of numerous Gandharvas to roll down within a short time, madethe ranks of Chitrasena to yell in anguish. And although they wereslaughtered in great numbers by Karna endued with great intelligence, yetthe Gandharvas returned to the charge by hundreds and thousands. And inconsequence of the swarms of Chitrasena’s warriors rushing impetuously tothe field the earth itself became soon covered by the Gandharva host.Then king Duryodhana, and Sakuni, the son of Suvala, and Dussasana, andVikarna, and other sons of Dhritarashtra, seated on cars the clatter ofwhose wheels resembled the roars of Garuda, returned to the charge,following the lead of Karna, and began to slaughter that host. Anddesirous of supporting Karna, these princes invested the Gandharva army,with a large number of cars and a strong body of horses. Then the wholeof the Gandharva host began to fight with the Kauravas. And the encounterthat took place between the contending hosts was fierce in the extremeand might make one’s hair stand on end. The Gandharvas, at last,afflicted with the shafts of the Kuru army, seemed to be exhausted. Andthe Kauravas beholding the Gandharvas so afflicted sent up a loud sound.

“And seeing the Gandharva host yielding to fear, the angry Chitrasenasprang from his seat, resolved to exterminate the Kuru army. Andconversant with various modes of warfare, he waged on the fight, aided byhis weapons of illusion. And the Kaurava warriors were then all deprivedof their senses by the illusion of Chitrasena. And then, O Bharata, itseemed that every warrior of the Kuru army was fallen upon and surroundedby ten Gandharvas. And attacked with great vigour, the Kuru host wasgreatly afflicted and struck with panic. O king, all of them that likedto live, fled from the field. But while the entire Dhritarashtra hostbroke and fled, Karna, that offspring of the Sun, stood there, O king,immovable as a hill. Indeed, Duryodhana and Karna and Sakuni, the son ofSuvala, all fought with the Gandharvas, although every one of them wasmuch wounded and mangled in the encounter. All the Gandharvas then,desirous of slaying Karna, rushed together by hundreds and thousandstowards Karna. And those mighty warriors, desirous of slaying the Suta’sson, surrounded him on all sides, with swords and battle-axes and spears.And some cut down the yoke of his car, and some his flagstaff, and somethe shaft of his car, and some his horses, and some his charioteer. Andsome cut down his umbrella and some the wooden fender round his car andsome the joints of his car. It was thus that many thousands ofGandharvas, together attacking his car, broke it into minute fragments.And while his car was thus attacked, Karna leaped therefrom with swordand shield in hand, and mounting on Vikarna’s car, urged the steeds forsaving himself.”